SOTERIOLOGY
The Study of
the Doctrine of Salvation
(Four Sessions)
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Session Twenty: JESUS, THE NEED OF SALVATION
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PURPOSE
OF SESSION
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To
come to know Jesus as He reveals the error of the wicked that causes man
to fall from his composure thereby producing the need of salvation.
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EMPHASIS
OF SESSION
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Jesus
will come into our lives to bring salvation to our souls in the midst of
experiencing what it means to be a human being in the struggle of
relationships and the manifestation of charity in those relationships.
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Introduction
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After
spending many years of his life growing in the knowledge of the Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, one of the early followers of Jesus penned one of
the greatest discourses of the Christian faith ever written.
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It was a simple, yet
profound message on the promise of Christ coming.
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Unfortunately, as the
author, Peter, would state, many would miss this great truth of
the Scriptures because they were unlearned and unstable.
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After
Peter gave a graphic description in the message of how the Lord always
delivers His people and brings judgment to the wicked, he raised a
challenging, confronting, concern.
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He said to his readers
that since they know how God works--He always delivers His
people and brings judgment to the wicked, "How then should
we live, what manner of holy conversation and godliness should
we see in our lives" (2 Pet. 3:11).
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Peter answered his
question with "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for
such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace,
without spot, and blameless" (3:14).
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He closed his message
by admonishing them, "seeing ye know these things before,
beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the
wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ"
(3:17,18).
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The
simple admonition to be on guard against the error of the wicked, so
that the readers might not fall from their stedfastness, indicates that
a fall can occur.
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Man can fall from that
which he was intended to experience.
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Sadly, the history of
man amply demonstrates the fallen nature of man.
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Since man consistently
finds his existence bearing the manifestation of a fallen
nature, Jesus must come and bring salvation to man.
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The coming of Christ
redeems the soul of man.
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Jesus,
once again, brings into focus the struggles that all men
encounter.
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Jesus said, as He was
approaching His death, "Except a corn of wheat fall into
the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth
forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he
that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life
eternal" (John 12:24).
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Knowing how God, the
Father, worked--He always delivered His people and brought
judgment to the wicked, Jesus then said, "Now is my soul
troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour:
but for this cause came I unto this hour."
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He knew the ultimate
challenge of His life had come.
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As
He was experiencing His life on earth, according to the will of His
heavenly Father, He was being brought to His death by the evil
interactions of the people in His relationships.
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Most of the people
that He encountered in His earthly existence were out to
destroy His life.
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Many of His closest
friends, failing to understand what was occurring in His life,
deserted Him.
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Few, if any, were
there to support Him.
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Is it any wonder,
"my soul is troubled," was His cry?
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Jesus did not resist what his
Father was doing in his life.
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Like Noah, He did not
resist the building of His ark that would eventually save
Him.
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Like Lot, His soul was
vexed, but He did not attempt to eradicate the sin or the city
of His existence but waited to be delivered.
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As a human being, He
was troubled in His relationships, but He did not attempt to
manipulate the interactions of His enemies or His friends as He
longed for His rescue.
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He merely experienced
what the Father was producing in His life at the time.
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He
would be found in this challenge of His existence "in peace,
without spot, and blameless."
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He would remain
steadfast.
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Seeing, He saw;
knowing He knew.
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He would not become
unstable; He would not fall.
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Unlike Adam, and
everyone who has fallen, He would resist the "error of the
wicked" and not fall from His life of serenity.
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His composure, His
tranquility, and His life remained in the innocence of His mind
and the grace of His heavenly Father.
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Jesus
lived His life in the promise of His Father.
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For He stated to His
disciples, "how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer
many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be
killed . . . ."
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But, then, added,
"be raised again the third day."
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He knew the Father had
promised to deliver Him out of sin and death.
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The harvest would come
from His seedtime.
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The single "corn
of wheat" would produce much fruit--the abundant life of
many souls.
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Just
as the Father had promised to come to His Son and fulfill His promise,
the Son has also promised to come to us.
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Jesus will come into
our lives to bring salvation to our souls in the midst of
experiencing what it means to be a human being.
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Can we also rest in
the promise of His coming as we go through the seedtime and
harvest of our lives, the struggle of relationships, and the
manifestation of charity in those relationships?
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Or, will we fall to
the error of the wicked and attempt to manipulate and control
those relationships?
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Do we believe Christ
always delivers His people and brings judgment to the wicked?
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You
can remain steadfast in peace, without spot, and blameless.
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Or, you can lose your
composure, become unstable, and destroy your own life.
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It
is the challenge of heaven or hell--it is the challenge of the
life we live.
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Listen
to CD 20
(Approximately Forty-Five Minutes of Exposition
on the Words of Jesus Found in Matthew 13:24-43)
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Order
Basic Bible Beliefs Part Two
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| Return
to Basic Bible Beliefs |
Session Twenty-One: JESUS, THE OBJECT OF SALVATION
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PURPOSE
OF SESSION
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To
come to know Jesus as the Savior of man from not only the acts of sin of
which he commits but also from that which causes sin to occur.
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EMPHASIS
OF SESSION
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The
death and resurrection of Jesus would be the means by which all men
could experience salvation from the dilemma in which they continually
find themselves.
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Introduction
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When
Jesus appeared after His resurrection to His disciples, He opened their
understanding that they might know the truths of the Scriptures.
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The crux of His
message to them was, "thus it is written, and thus it
behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third
day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be
preached in his name among all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem" (Luke 24:45-47).
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The death and
resurrection of Jesus would be the means by which all men would
experience salvation from the dilemma in which they continually
find themselves.
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Jesus came to save us--but, to
save us from what?
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The angel told Joseph
at the birth of Jesus that Mary would give birth to a child who
would "save his people from their sins" (Matt.
1:21).
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Jesus Himself stated
that "the Son of man is come to save that which was
lost" (Matt. 18:11).
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Among the last words
of Jesus, He admonished His disciples to preach repentance and
remission of sins in His name.
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The concept of
salvation presupposes the need to be saved from something.
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The words of Jesus
imply that this salvation would involve a two-fold
remedy--repentance and remission of sins.
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With
repentance, as Jesus used it in His final message to His disciples,
meaning "by implication reversal of another’s decision"
(with its root meaning "to think differently or afterwards, i.e.
reconsider"), salvation for man will involve a reversal of man’s
thinking.
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Salvation will also
involve being set free from the bondage that has come upon man
from this wrong thinking.
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Man can be saved from
that to which he has fallen prey.
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Man can be saved from
himself.
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There
is an event in history that reveals both the wrong thinking and the
consequences that follow.
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It is the actual
episode that Isaiah used to reveal how evil gets into a
perfectly good world (Isaiah 14).
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The narrative of the
incident is the most precise description of the fall of man
recorded in the Scriptures.
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The
story begins in Daniel Chapter 2:
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And in the second year
of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams,
wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the
astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew
the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. And
the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit
was troubled to know the dream. (2:1-3)
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After searching
through his discerners of dreams and wise men, his attention was
brought to Daniel as one who could give the interpretation to
his dream: "Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a
night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven"
(2:19).
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Daniel
then gave the interpretation:
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As for thee, O
king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should
come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh
known to thee what shall come to pass. But as for me, this
secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more
than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the
interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the
thoughts of thy heart. Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great
image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood
before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s
head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his
belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part
of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut
out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were
of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron,
the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces
together, and became like the chaff of the summer
threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place
was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a
great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is the dream;
and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath
given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
(2:29-37)
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After perhaps thinking of
what Daniel had said, the king responded as most men would have: "Nebuchadnezzar
the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and
the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in
the province of Babylon" (3:1).
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Then he commanded his
herald to proclaim:
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To you it is
commanded, O people, nations, and languages, That at what time
ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery,
dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the
golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: And whoso
falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast
into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. (3:4-6)
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After the Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego incident, the next scene has the king
resting at home: "I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine
house, and flourishing in my palace: I saw a dream which made me
afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head
troubled me" (4:4,5).
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Daniel
was called in to give him the interpretation:
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This is the
interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High,
which is come upon my lord the king: That they shall drive thee
from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the
field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they
shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall
pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the
kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And whereas
they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom
shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that
the heavens do rule. (4:24-26)
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The
narrative of the fall continued:
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All this came
upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he
walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake,
and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for
the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the
honour of my majesty? While the word was in the king’s
mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king
Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed
from thee. (4:28-31)
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When
Nebuchadnezzar fell from the glory, the honor, and the brightness of the
kingdom that God had given to him, his heart, the inner most essence of
his being, was changed from the heart of a man to the heart of a beast.
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The thinking processes
of his mind changed.
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The base of his
understanding, his soul, shifted completely.
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He lost the capacity
to observe, to comprehend, and to enjoy the glory, the honor,
and the brightness of his existence.
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He became driven by
the simple motivations and drives of an animal.
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Although he was still
king of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world,
he experienced life as a lowly beast of the fields.
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The
story of the fall of Nebuchadnezzar is the story of every man.
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It seems that every
man in the course of experiencing life loses sight of the simple
truth that God gives and rules the domain in which he
lives.
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God directs the course
of events that transpires in every man’s life.
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When any man
perceives, as Nebuchadnezzar, that the world of his existence
has been built by the might of his personal power for his glory
and honor, he, too, will fall from the glory, the honor, and the
brightness of the kingdom given by God.
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When man toils at
experiencing life (attempting to control the times and the
seasons of life), it has been predetermined by God that man will
struggle in life.
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He that seeks to save
his life will lose it.
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He will fall from the
wonder of human existence to act like a beast of the fields.
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When
man acts like a beast, he attempts to live life in the nature of the
beast.
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He becomes animalistic
in his motivations to experience life.
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All the complexities
of intellect, emotions, and will that enable man to observe, to
comprehend, and to enjoy the kingdom given of God are reduced to
three simple drives that dominate his thinking.
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The nature of the
beast puts man into the bondage of survival, procreation, and
territorial rights.
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Becoming like a beast
of the fields, man’s primary purpose in life becomes simply to
survive.
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Every thing that
transpires in life is designed by the man who attempts to
control his life, to perpetuate his personal existence.
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He is driven
continually to hunt for food and for shelter, for things that
will meet his basic needs to survive.
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This hunt for things
dominates his life.
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Becoming like a beast
of the fields, man’s motivation for survival is fueled by his
procreative drives.
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He becomes consumed
not only to perpetuate his existence by fathering and mothering
children but by the greater urge to create life.
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The beastly ability
and motivation to perpetuate its kind becomes in fallen man the
hunger to create the happenings of life itself.
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Man becomes consumed
with the notion that he can make life happen.
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Becoming like a beast
of the fields, the drive for survival will force man to protect
the things and the happenings that he perceives is his
life.
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He will become
territorial and will mark the domains of his survival, the
places where he experiences his life.
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He marks them because
he must protect them.
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He thinks they are his
rights.
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He becomes controlled
by the drive to preserve his existence.
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When
man falls from the glory and wonder of the kingdom given by God, there
is nothing else he can experience but the world of the nature of the
beast.
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Working to make life
happen by the exercise of his own thinking, he becomes beastly
in all of his relationships.
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When the world he has
created by his own effort is threatened, he will attack with
malice, guile, deceit, jealousy, and defamation.
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He will strike out to
destroy all that appears to challenge his survival.
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Having his heart
changed from the heart of a man to the heart of a beast, there
is nothing else he can do but attempt to protect the domain
which he has created to give purpose and meaning to life.
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Having his heart
changed from the heart of a man to the heart of a beast, there
is nothing else he can do but attempt to protect the domain
which he has created to give purpose and meaning to life.
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He has fallen from the
kingdom given by God to a domain that is now controlled by the
nature of the beast.
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He
must have his thinking changed and be set free from the bondage of
animalistic desires and behavior.
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Listen
to CD 21
(Approximately Forty-Five Minutes of Exposition
on the Words of Jesus Found in Matthew 23:1-39)
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Order
Basic Bible Beliefs Part Two
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| Return
to Basic Bible Beliefs |
Session Twenty-Two: JESUS, THE POWER OF SALVATION
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PURPOSE
OF SESSION
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To come to know that by the
true grace of God the believer can come through the germination of new
life with the cry, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is
thy victory?"
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EMPHASIS
OF SESSION
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As God uses the circumstances
of life to bring man to his germination moment, man finds himself at the
judgment of Christ in which his soul is brought into the balance of
heaven and hell.
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Introduction
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The
simple flower of the Morning Glory proclaims the challenge of life and
the power of God’s salvation.
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As the dawning rays of
the sun penetrate its surrounding, the petals of the flower open
to the glow of the sunlight.
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The increasing
warmth and brightness of the sun causes the flower to
raise its head, spread its petals, and reach up to its
source of life.
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Through the
power of the sun, the glory of the flower is
perfected.
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As the sun comes forth
to bring the full glory of the flower, the setting of the sun
causes the flower to respond in diminishing shades of
glory.
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As the light
of the day begins to fade, the petals of the Morning
Glory begin to draw in unto itself.
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With the
passing of dusk and the approach of midnight, the flower
bends its head, gathers its petals, and prepares for the
night.
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Eventually, the flower
will bow in perfect submission.
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In
perhaps one of the greatest messages of the Christian faith on record,
Peter quoted David in explaining the events of the day of
Pentecost:
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"I foresaw the
Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I
should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my
tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:
Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou
suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to
me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy
countenance" (Acts 2:25-28).
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Understanding
the ways of life is to understand the Morning Glory.
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Throughout the day and
the night, the summer and the winter, the cold and the heat, and
the seedtime and the harvest, this simple flower lives the
duration of its life in perfect glory to God.
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The Morning Glory,
without the capability to observe and to make judgment on what
is occurring in its life, lives its entire existence in simple
harmony with its Creator.
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In the innocence of
its being, it stands in the glory in which it was created.
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Peter,
again, understanding the ways of life wrote:
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"But the God of
all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ
Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect,
stablish, strengthen, settle you" (1 Pet. 5:10).
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Like the Morning
Glory, we too can experience God’s eternal glory by Christ
Jesus.
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Plant
a tomato seed in the ground.
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The outer casing or
husk of the seed must rot or decay before the essence of life
within the seed can come forth with tender sprouts of
life.
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One pushes up through
the ground seeking the light of the sun.
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Another one pushes
into the soil seeking water and nutrients.
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Without this struggle
for light and water, it does not survive.
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This struggle is what
it means to be a created entity.
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It is the fact of any
created existence.
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Eventually, the
essence of the seed comes forth from the earth into the heaven
producing a full grown tomato plant.
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Hanging on the
branches of the plant are fully developed tomatoes.
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They are the glory of
the tomato plant.
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The mature tomatoes
are the fullest possible manifestation of life the tomato plant
can experience.
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Within each tomato are
many seeds.
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Within each seed is
the same life that was in the seed that was planted in the
ground to start the cycle of life.
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Although individual
tomato plants with their tomatoes live and die, the essence of
life within the seed is eternal.
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This is the eternal
glory to which we have been called.
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As
God uses the circumstances of life to bring man to his germination
moment, man finds himself at the judgment of Christ in which his soul is
brought into the balance of heaven and hell.
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By not resisting the
dying of the old existence, the judgment of Christ will always
bring newness of life: "But the God of all grace, who
hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after
that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish,
strengthen, settle you" (1 Pet. 5:10).
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In a world of
trouble, perplexities, persecutions, and being put down,
the believer can be completed, confirmed, strong, and
have a firm foundation because he has experienced the
heavenly.
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He has been
raised to newness of life.
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Refusing or resisting
what God is doing by the circumstances of life, the judgment of
Christ will always bring damnation to life: "Be
sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1
Pet. 5:8).
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Once the mind begins
to escalate its worrisome thoughts over current circumstances,
the soul becomes intoxicated with anxiety.
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The mind runs out of
control and "sleep won’t come the whole night
through."
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Instead of living in
the peace and rest of a sound mind controlled by the Holy
Spirit, the soul is being devoured by the imaginations of the
mind.
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It is overwhelmed by
its own created world of destruction.
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The
circumstances that bring the good and the circumstances that bring the
bad are the same circumstances.
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The living of life
will always bring man to this germination process.
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"But the God of
all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ
Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect,
stablish, strengthen, settle you."
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By the true grace of
God, the believer can come through this moment of destiny, the
germination of new life, with the cry, "O death, where is
thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
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The sting of death has
been conquered by the grace of God in the innocence mind.
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It is the power
of salvation as Jesus comes to deliver His people.
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Listen
to CD 22
(Approximately Forty-Five Minutes of Exposition
on the Words of Jesus Found in Matthew 17:1-27)
|
Order
Basic Bible Beliefs Part Two
|
| Return
to Basic Bible Beliefs |
Session Twenty-Three: JESUS, THE BAPTISM OF SALVATION
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PURPOSE OF SESSION
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To come to know that the baptism of the Holy
Spirit brings power for the believer to experience the dying process of
the germinating moment of life.
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EMPHASIS OF SESSION
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The believer knows he has an
"inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not
away, reserved in heaven . . ." only if he is "kept by the
power of God through faith" unto the death and resurrection of his
soul.
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Introduction
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The
last recorded words of Jesus were spoken to his apostles just before He
ascended.
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He commanded that they
should not depart from Jerusalem until they had received the
promise of the Father. |
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He said, "For
John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with
the Holy Ghost not many days hence" (Acts 1:5).
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When asked,
"Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to
Israel?"
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Jesus added, "It
is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the
Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power,
after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be
witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts
1:7,8).
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There
are three vital truths in this simple statement that the followers of
Jesus were about to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
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First, this baptism is
connected with "the times or the seasons."
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Secondly, this baptism
would be to "receive power."
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Finally, this baptism
would produce "witnesses."
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With the analogy of
the word witness meaning a "martyr," the
baptism of the Holy Spirit brings power in the dying process
during the time or the season so ordained by God.
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Although
the disciples understood this baptism had something to do with the
bringing forth of the kingdom of God, they struggled to know the depth
of Jesus’ words.
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It wasn’t until the
actual event, when Peter stood up and with inspired speech spoke
words that he was hearing for the first time, did they begin to
grasp the significance of the promise of Jesus.
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Peter explained the
happenings that transpired on the Jewish feast of Pentecost with
three events out of their past.
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First, he said
this "filling" with the Holy Spirit had been
prophesied by Joel.
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The
prophet had foretold that God would bring a new
way of speaking to His people (Acts
2:17-21).
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This
new way of speaking would occur only after the
old way of speaking had been brought to its end
by God.
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The
old must be taken down before the new can be
raised to life.
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Secondly,
Peter used the actual death and resurrection of Jesus
which they had just witnessed.
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He told the
inquiring crowd that they had done a wicked thing in
crucifying Jesus even though it was brought about by the
will of God.
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They
killed Jesus, but God raised Him up having
"loosened the pains of death" (Acts
2:22-24).
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Death
and resurrection is the foundational principle of what
it means to be Christian.
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Finally, Peter used a
quote from David to give meaning to what had occurred to Jesus
in His death and resurrection.
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He also proclaimed why
the power of the Holy Spirit is given and necessary for the
believer.
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He recited David: I
foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right
hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart
rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall
rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [haides,
properly, unseen, i.e. "Hades"], neither wilt thou
suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to
me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy
countenance. (Acts 2:25-28)
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Peter then stated that
David is not talking about himself, but about Jesus, and all
those who are "in Jesus."
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The
heart can rejoice (translated from a word meaning, "right frame of
mind"), the tongue can be made glad, and the flesh can rest in hope
because God will not leave the soul in "death" (the state of
the unseen).
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Although the flesh can
taste corruption, dishonor, weakness, and natural death, the
Spirit of God is incorruptible, glorious, powerful, and
supernatural life.
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Resurrection always
comes out of death because the essence of life, the Spirit of
God, cannot die.
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It
is the power of the Holy Spirit that enables the death and resurrection
of all things.
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It is the ways of life
so decreed by God.
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When man is taken to
the end of his current existence, he is at the germinating point
of life.
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The circumstances in
which he is now facing bring his soul into the balance of heaven
or hell.
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What occurs in this
moment of judgment for man determines what he experiences in his
life.
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Since
man is a fleshly, earthly being, he has the ability to experience an
existence of his mind being separated from the controlling influence of
the Holy Spirit.
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It is the true tale of
the fall of man from experiencing the glory of the heavenly
realm to living in the hells of a mere earthly existence.
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The satanic power of
man’s mind out of control drives him to an inferno of life
alienated from the glory of God.
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Man, once the
brightness of a morning star now cut down to the ground, spends
the days of his life in the abyss of paradise lost.
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Peter
recognized this great truth and simply told the early believers to
"gird up the loins of their mind, be sober, and hope to the end for
the grace, that is to be brought unto [them] at the revelation of Jesus
Christ" (1 Pet. 1:13).
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He also admonished
them six times in his letter to recognize the dangers of going
through the germination process, the death and resurrection of
the soul.
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It is in the heat of a
confrontation that the temptation to frustrate grace occurs.
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The beastly nature of
man rises up to protect the survival of the current life being
experienced.
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Jesus
said, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it
abideth alone: but if it die, it brigheth forth much fruit."
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he multi-grain wheat
stalk cannot come forth without the planting of the seed.
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The new morning comes
only after the midnight.
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The freshness of new
life in a relationship comes only after the perishing of the old
existing lifestyle.
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Those
who trust in the Lord for the resurrection of new life know the
temptation to resist the planting of the seed, the temptation to not
give up any ground in the heat of the confrontation, and the temptation
to get in the last word.
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In the midst of these
challenging moments of heaven or hell, the true believer in
Christ passes the time of this journey through death and
resurrection in apprehension.
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Although he
approaches the throne of grace with boldness, he
nevertheless understands the weakness of his flesh and
in fear cries out for the Spirit of God to be his
strength--for Jesus to come and save him.
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He knows he
has an "inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven . . ."
only if he is "kept by the power of God through
faith" unto the death and resurrection of his soul.
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It is the
greatest challenge of life, but it produces the greatest
reward of man’s existence--"joint-heirs
with Christ" in the kingdom of God.
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Or, as Peter
would later say, "heirs together of the grace of
life."
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Listen to CD 23
Approximately Forty-Five Minutes of Exposition
on the Words of Jesus Found in Matthew 5:1-13)
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Order
Basic Bible Beliefs Part Two
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